Kentucky Moonshine

As is often the case with comedies of the 30s and 40s, the filmmakers don't trust the comedians to carry the picture, so they add a romantic subplot and boring song or two to "help things out". It doesn't help here, as Tony Martin is not much of a leading man and has some boring songs to sing, however the madcap magic of the Ritz boys does win out in the end.

This movie starts with an interminably long Martin song, then you finally meet the Ritz Brothers, three guys trying to make it in showbusiness just when the hillbilly music craze is breaking. They catch wind of a talent search down south and decide to go down and pose as bumpkins to jumpstart their careers. This kind of thing probably happened in real life during the folk music boom of the 60s!

Great Harry Ritz line: (acting dumb as someone tries to explain the concept of a broadcast to him) "You mean they can take our voices on that there raddy-o and fling 'em all over tarnation?"

So, as usual, not ENOUGH Ritz Brothers in this, but they do get some good moments, the best (perhaps one of their finest sequences captured on film), is their routine at the end. Worth the wait. Phenomenal dancing. Just hilarious and entirely Ritz-ian.